“Catholic sisters are the progressive edge of the Catholic Church, and the Catholic Church is the largest private landowner in the world.”
So says Sarah Jane Bradley, co-founder of Land Justice Futures, in The 19th News' recent article, “For the first time, Catholic sisters return land to a Tribal nation.” The story documents the historic act of the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration’s transfer of Marywood Spirituality Center property in Arbor Vitae, Wisconsin, to the original caretakers of the land, the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians — repair of colonization and residential boarding schools.
The report also highlights the Band’s Land Back Movement, arduous work for restoration of Indigenous ancestral lands, as well as FSPA’s collaboration with Land Justice Futures, an organization missioned to “help religious land owners pursue land justice — centering racial repair, ecological healing, and community power into decisions about how land is loved, used, and governed.
Sarah Jane Bradley, Land Justice Futures, Sue Ernster, FSPA, and Araia Breedlove, at the Oct. 31 Marywood land transfer ceremony in Arbor Vitae, Wisconsin.
“It’s a huge step forward for our Land Back Movement and reclaiming what was once ours,” says Araia Breedlove, Lac du Flambeau public relations director. “The land is in a predominantly White area, and so to have a piece of our culture back where it belongs is extremely important to us.”
And “... what the sisters choose to do carries weight,” says Bradley. “Them choosing to move towards right relationship in a traumatized and hurting world, is cultural acupuncture.”
Watch, listen and learn about the transfer, history and healing at fspa.org, where you’ll find storytelling by PBS Wisconsin, National Catholic Reporter, Wisconsin Public Radio and many other local and national news organizations.
Image above: Franciscan Sister of Perpetual Adoration Karen Kappell with Mildred "Tinker" Schuman, a tribal member of the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians, at the Marywood land transfer ceremony on Oct. 31 in Arborvitae, Wisconsin.